Lines suggested by General Brock’s stirring appeal to the people of Upper Canada at the opening of the War of 1812
Image courtesy of Library & Archives Canada
Canadian arms are stout and strong,
Canadian hearts are true;
Your homes were in the forest made,
Where pine and maple grew.
A haughty foe is marching
Your country to enthral;
Arouse ye, brave Canadians,
And answer to my call!
Let every man who swings an axe,
Or follows at the plough,
Abandon farm and homestead,
And grasp a rifle now!
We’ll trust the God of Battles,
Although our force be small;
Arouse ye, brave Canadians,
And answer to my call!
Let mothers, though with breaking hearts,
Give up their gallant sons;
Let maidens bid their lovers go,
And wives their dearer ones!
Then rally to the frontier,
And form a living wall;
Arouse ye, brave Canadians,
And answer to my call!
Source: James David Edgar. This Canada of Ours and Other Poems. Toronto: William Briggs, 1893.